About the Library

The library collection contains about 7,000 individual titles. All of titles are in the collection in order to support our curriculum here at Ignite. All of the digital materials are available through LPC. If you don't know which database to use, try the "Best Resource Chooser" found below and to the right. You may have to log in in order to use them.

While you are here, as a Virginia resident, you may also use two of the "local" University libraries. Those links are found at the bottom of the page.

Physical Collection

Circulating Materials — Circulation materials are those materials that may be checked out by patrons and removed from the library premises. Non-Circulating Reference Materials - Non-Circulating materials are items that may be used within the library premises, but are not typically checked out by patrons. Exceptions exists for different patrons types (See Policies page for borrowing privileges). These resources are typically reference books and archival material (with certain restriction.Reserve Materials - Reserve materials are determined from the Academic Office’s book list and by faculty and administration request. Library patrons may view materials for limited time periods (2 hours is typical). Reserve materials often include books, articles, CD and DVD’s, as well as legal and institutional documents that must be available for public access.

LibGuides

The library has created guides to help students with resources for their course assignments. Each guide contains an assignment page providing help for specific assignments in the course, a sources page suggesting relevant sources and how to use them, and a citation page with guides on how to properly cite materials. To search for a guide for your course Libguides, click here.

Evaluation Forms

Evaluation forms are available for websites and for articles. These will help the student determine if the resource is of good academic quality and could be used in a paper or project.

Databases

Databases are collections of subscriptions to journals, magazines, ebooks and other materials. Each database can be searched separately or all can be searched together within our WorldCat catalog. Some databases are “hosted” by other companies. The major database hosts that we use are ProQuest and EBSCO.

PubMed - US National Library of Medicine - is a digital library of medical and psychological research and information sponsored by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a depart of the National Institute of Health.

Virginia Libraries

With proof of residency from the state of Virginia, students have access to the Libraries at Radford University and Virginia Tech.

Pick the Best Resources Link

This link will take you to another page where you can select the most appropriate resources for your research.

Digital Reference Materials

Reference materials are general or broad knowledge resources. These items are searchable by topic and will produce results that can be considered academic and scholarly.

African American Biographical Database – Biographies of African Americans in the United States between 1790 to 1950. Contains extended narratives of African American activists, business people, former slaves, performing artists, educators, lawyers, physicians, writers, church leaders, homemakers, church and missionary leaders, government workers, athletes, farmers, scientists, factory workers, and more.American National Biography – Biographies of Americans whose lives shaped the nation. Includes illustrations and links to other resources.Credo Digital Reference – a collection of over 700 titles with particular emphasis on encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks.Historical Newspapers – Find the full text of every article in every issue of The Times newspaper during one of the most important periods in the social, political and economic development of the industrialized world. Covers all aspects of British and American life and world affairs in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Oxford English Dictionary – the dictionary of the English language, tracing definitions through history and includes quotations.